Car-unloading apparatus.



No. 665,025. Patented .lan. I, l90l. T.. LONG. GAR UNLOADING APPARATUS.

' (Applicbtion filed Mar. 2, 1896.)

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(No Model.)

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No. 665,025. Patented Ian. |,-|90|.

T. LONG. cAn uNLo'AnmG'APPAnATus.

' (Application filed Max. 2, 1596.]

(No Model.) 1

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. the front posts of the fixed framework being and operation of the mechanism for raising UNITED STATES PATENT UFFICE.

TIMOTHY LONG, OF

CLEVELAND, OHIO.

CAR-UNLOADING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 665,025, dated January 1, 1901.

n m fil d March 2,1 9 serial-No. 581,468. No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, TIMOTHY Lone, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Unloading Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of carunloading apparatus which includes a cradle adapted to support the car to be dumped, mechanism for tipping the cradle when the car is on it, and means for holding the car on the cradle when it is being tipped.

The invention consists in the mechanism for elevating and tipping the cradle and for holding the car thereon, ashereinafter described, and pointed out definitely in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved apparatus, showing a car in the cradle, the dotted lines in this figure showing the position of the cradle, the car, and its retainingdevices when the car is being dumped. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus, having a portion of the front wall of the cradle broken away,

in vertical section to show the construction and lowering the delivery-chute.

The movable parts of the apparatus are supported upon a suitable framework, commonly called a trestle tower, which, as shown, consists of vertical posts A A and suitable horizontal connecting-beams A A and braces on a, all preferably made of heavy steel beams suitably. connected to make a rigid structure. The, precise construction of this tower is not, however, an essential part of the invention. l I I B represents an ad'ustable chute supported by the front'posts I of the tower. Sheaves b b are mounted on the sides of the rear end of the chute, and they move freely between the vertical flanges aaof said posts. B B represent cables (and by l cables here and elsewherein this specification I mean to include not only wire cables, but ropes of any sort or chains) which are secured to the tower at the points indicated by b which may be at or near the top of said tower. From this point the cables pass down and under the sheaves b, thence up and over the sheaves b mounted in the top of the tower, at the front corners thereof, then over sheaves I), mounted on the tower, near the rear top corners thereof, and thence down to and around drums at at the back of the framework. This chute is raised or lowered by winding cables B upon or unwinding them from said drums: The outer end of the chute is maintained at the desired elevation by means of acab le C, which is attached at one end to the'upper end of the tower, and it passes around a sheave C, secured to the outer end of the chute, and thence over sheaves e ch the top of the tower, back over a sheave ot shown) in line with sheave b and downfto any point where said cable may be taken in or paid out.

E represents a car-supporting cradle having any suitable c u'struction which makes it strong enough for the intended purpose. As shown in the drawings, however, it is composed of two end pieces made of stout metal beams and connected by tie-rods E, the floor c, and the sides e On the front sides of the cradle, at the ends thereof, are secured two stout bars F, having forked upper arms which are placed so as to embrace the trunnion-pins G, which are attached to the lower rear corners of the chute B, when the front part of the cradle has been sufficiently elevated.

M represents sheaves mounted in suitable brackets, one under each of the four corners of the cradle. At each end of the apparatus a cable N is secured at one end to the top of the tower, and it passes down under the two sheaves M, up to the top of the tower, over sheaves O and 0, and thence down to the winding-drum P. These cables N are the means whereby the cradle, with the car on it, is lifted and by which it is turned over when the front end of the cradle is stopped by its engagement with the trunnions G. On the floor of the cradle are transverse tracks 6 which incline slightly toward the rear side of the cradle. A track-platform T having wheels t is mounted on these tracks, and the' rails t are secured upon this platform. The car to be unloaded rides upon these tracks '25.

The means for holding the car in the cradlewhile said cradle is being turned over is the following: K K K represent strong cables fas- IOO tened to the inside of the front side of the cradle. They pass up and over sheaves L on the top of the tower, thence back and over sheaves L at the back of the tower, and to their free ends heavy weights 7 are attached, which weights are sufficiently heavy to approximately counterbalance the weight of the cradle and its load in the manner to be presently described. When the car is pushed into the cradle, the movable track-platform T is by reason of the inclination of the track e moved as far toward the rear side of the cradle as it can go, resting against the stops 6 The cradle is lifted by winding up the cables N, the cradle remaining in a substantially horizontal position until the bars F come into engagement with the trunnions G, which serve as stops therefor. This preven t-s the front end of the cradle from moving up any farther, but the rear end of the cradle continues to move up, with the result of turning the cradle containing the car over upon the trunnions G as a pivot into substantially the position shown by the dotted lines in Fig. '1. The sheaves O are not placed at points directly over the rear side of the cradle, but forward of such points, whereby the tipping of the cradle will continue as cables N are wound up until it is more than half turned over. As soon as the cradle begins to turn the track-platform T slides over toward the front end of the cradle, carrying the car with it, said platform striking a'longitudinal beam D on the inside of the cradle. This movement of the track-platform carries the car over against the cables K K K. During the upward movement of the cradle the weights W on the ends of these cables have assisted in raising the cradle and its load. When the cradle tips, cables K are deflected forward by the car and engage with the front side and top of the car, whereby the weights W on their ends, tending to straighten the cables, prevent the car from falling forward out of the cradle and from leaving the tracks i. When the car has been emptied, the cables N are slackened, and the rear side of the cradle begins to descend, being assisted in this movement not only by its own weight, but by the action of the weighted cables K K K. When the cradle has resumed its horizontal position, it descends to the position indicated by full lines in Fig. 1.

Having described my invention, I claim-- 1. In a car-dumping apparatus, the combination of a car-supporting cradle, a laterally- Inovable platform within said cradle on which the car may rest, and means for lifting said cradle and tipping it sidewise, and a longitudinal bar D within the cradle on that side toward which the car is dumped, whereby the car may move over bodily into engagement with said bar when the cradle is tipped, substantially as described.

2. In a car-dumping apparatus, the combination of a car-supporting cradle, a forwardly and backwardly movable track-platform in said cradle, tracks secured thereon, upon which the car may rest, and means for lifting and tipping said cradle, with cables secured to the front side of said cradle, sheaves mounted aloft over which said cables pass, and weights secured to the free ends of said cables, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a car-dumping apparatus, the combination of a car-supporting cradle, means for lifting the cradle and tipping it sidewise, a platform T within the cradle on which a car may rest, said platform having wheels 15', rails transverse of the cradle on which said wheels rest, said rails when in their normal position rising at that end which is on the side of the cradle toward which the tipping takes place, whereby when the cradle is in its normal position the said transverse rails by their incline hold the car from lateral shifting, but as the cradle is being tipped allow the car to shift, and means for receiving a portion of the strain caused by the car when it has so shifted, substantially as described.

4. In a dumping apparatus, the combination with a cradle, and means for raising and lowering it bodily and for tilting it, of a movable platform within the cradle adapted to receive a car and be moved laterally toward one side of the cradle, and a cable extending upward from that side of the cradle toward which the car thus moves, which cable draws over the car when it is thus tilted, substantially as described.

TIMOTHY LONG.

Witnesses:

GEO. W. TIBBITTS, LEWIS W. FORD. 

